Tourism in Lebanon Takes a Hit

Samira and her husband, Mounah

Despite the loss of bookings at cottage inns, owners remain hopeful that the DHIAFEE program can succeed

The small village in Southern Lebanon, Ebel Al Saqi, expected hundreds of tourists to take part in the Bird Festival and bird watching activities this summer-an event that attracts visitors from dozens of countries. But following the 34-day war in July 2006, all bookings for the Ebel Al Saqi Guest House were cancelled.

Ebel Al Saqi Guest House is one of 30 tourist sites in the "DHIAFEE" program (from the Lebanese word for hospitality, DHIAFEE stands for: Developing the Hospitality Industry's Abilities - Fostering Economic Expansion). The program helps cottage inns in rural areas throughout Lebanon promote tourism and small business development.

Samira owns the Ebel Al Saqi Guest House with her husband, Mounah. "We built our guest house in 23 days," Samira says proudly. "Though we faced many problems during construction, we really believed in what we were doing and kept pressing forward."

As she moves from one room to the next to show what she and her husband have built, she has a story about each guest room. "I wanted to make sure our guests felt comfortable when they came to visit. We hoped this summer would bring tourists. We thought we would need more space to accommodate all the guests."

In anticipation of being overbooked, Samira invited several ladies from the village to join the DHIAFEE program. "I thought they could earn money and meet new people too," Samira says.

Samira and the other ladies attended the ANERA training to learn about hospitality services. "It was really interesting because there are some rules we must follow to run a successful guest house-rules we were not aware of before the training," according to Samira.

While this summer didn't work out as planned, Samira, her husband and the other ladies in Ebel Al Saqi are optimistic. "There are many other tourist, historical and ecotourism activities here and in surrounding villages. For this reason, we are confident that this project will be successful."

The DHIAFEE program works with owners of cottage inns throughout Lebanon to help them create plans for developing and improving their facilities to better meet the needs of potential clients and to help improve their marketing strategies. The program also teaches the technical skills necessary for day-to-day management of the inns. The DHIAFEE project is a partnership between ANERA and Al Kafa'at Foundation.